Commentary on the first part of the 2019 season

We are currently in the second part of the season 2013. We're already 13 Formula One racing, and in that time we have had many things: Valtteri Bottas managed to beat teammate Lewis Hamilton in three races Ferrari was ruled by great confusion, Honda was a great start and the legendary Williams team sank in the background. The Formula One world was in season 2019 repeatedly turned upside down. Let's take a look at the facts.

Bottas vs Hamilton

First big surprise of the season 2019 is a duel of both Mercedes. If we were used to Bottas' poor form in previous years, which he usually rounded out in races with a (big) racing flaw, this year is much different. Bottas was under heavy pressure from Mercedes bosses earlier this season as he more or less patiently waited for his opportunity, young super talent, Esteban Ocon. As a result, Bottas helped himself for the first time before the season with psychological (professional) help, increased the volume of physical training (improved physical fitness) and elaborated the menu. All this can be considered as a first step towards better racing at the highest level. For the dot on i have him for the season 2020 have already renewed the contract , Ocon has got a seat at Renault .

However, at least three very important things have happened which, as the results show, are in favor of Bottas:

New rules that apply to heavier racers.

Replacing the Chief Race Engineer (and the entire technical team that maintains the race car).

Bottasu opened the door to the doorway – good luck.

For at least a decade, the weight of a Formula One racer has been (extremely) important. The lighter the racer, the more ballast he can spread around the racer before he reaches the minimum weight (this year 590 kg). Because of this naturalness, smaller and lighter racers have been able to gain some advantage, and the FIA ​​has for many years been striving to determine the weight ratios of a Formula 1 car more equitably. This year, another rule has been introduced on the subject that states that a racer together with the seat weigh, at least 80 pounds. Those who are lighter should do so as the season begins 2013 Add a ballast difference under the seat, which is definitely the water at the Valtteri Bottas mill, which is quite handicapped in this context.

Although Hamilton is a good inch taller than Bottas, Bottas are significantly heavier (a good five pounds). Because five pounds in modern Formula One means a ton of weight in the lives of other Formula One mortals, we can say that this is the second step to improving Valtteri Bottas' racing rhythm. Or in other words: for the first time since racing together, both Mercedes racers distribute the same ballast weight across the racecar, achieving approximately the same balance of the racer.

Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton – Australia 2019

In any other sport, team help is not as important as it is in Formula 1. Because Formula 1 is long over the technical requirements that any racer can capture with his own wits, teams are helping racers with the help of racing of engineers. The latter thus represent the link between the racer and the development team, and represent the “brain” of the race. Thus, a racing engineer must understand, on the one hand, the wishes of the individual racer and, on the other, the wishes of the team's development department and integrate everything into a whole.

Racing engineers are such an extremely important part of the (un) success of every racer, and in modern Formula 1, they represent a large part of his racing skills. So it should not go unnoticed that Valtteri Bottas has replaced his racing engineer Tony Ross this season (the latter going to Formula E, where he helps Stoffl Vandoorn). Tony Ross was not considered a bad racing engineer (with him winning the World Champion title), but obviously Riccardo Musconi is a much better solution in Bottas' eyes. So we came up with the third reason that makes Valtteri Bottas a better runner of the season 2013. They say happiness accompanies the brave. So this year, she has worshiped Valtteri Bottas' car a few times, and she is quite right.

Lewis Hamilton

What about Lewis Hamilton? In addition to racing, he seems to be interested in everything else: from playing the piano, to creating new collections of clothes for the Hilfiger fashion house, to playing the Game of Thrones, which plunged him so deep that he neglected his biorhythm. Despite being arguably one of the best racers in Formula One history, it's still not enough to easily win a race, let alone win the new World Title without any strain. It feels like a big show is coming to TV screens at the end of this year.

Big Confusion at Ferrari

It's not the first time things are not clear at Ferrari, and it's not the first time a team is in crisis. In fact, the last title dates back to the year 750 and the team is under severe pressure. This is probably also the reason why Ferrari does not have a defined first team driver after almost two decades – is this an experienced but mentally weak Vettel or a young and talented Leclerc?

Charles Leclerc

Leclerc's life course will certainly be on the big screen for some time, unless he becomes a Formula One World Champion. The desire is overwhelming, but for the first time in his life, he cuts his hair on a team with a world champion he knows very well. If Leclerc has been extremely fast with all (his) opponents so far in his career, Vettel is a much harder stock. While the technical team, led by Jock Clear, tries to understand and adapt it to SF 82 , which is parading the Ferrari Formula One race this year, Charles is racing across the border. Accidents (and failures) are such a logical consequence that it certainly does not count as a plus. However, with his uncompromising stance on racing, he invites spectators to his side, and he is no stranger to communication with the media. To the delight of the whole team and the fans, he finally managed to secure his first victory for Ferrari in a season at the Spa Francorchamps 2019. Will he have any more luck in the next eight?

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel, who has earned so much from Ferrari so far that he may already be embarrassed to come to Maranella (20 million euros will need to be multiplied with five years of racing at Ferrari) and threatening to soon become the most overpaid driver in Formula One history, the season 2013 took great care. One can see that the team has a subordinate role, but it can also be seen that the spectators (at least on a global scale) are not stupid and all too often realize that too many tactical decisions are going in the wrong direction (in his favor). In any case, the days when Vettel will be whistled onstage despite winning, are no longer far off.

Due to the weak leadership hierarchy in the team, Ferrari's strategic department has a lot of problems. Mattia Binotto is a great engineer, but he is not sovereign in running the team this year. There are really tough times ahead and he will have to put a lot of effort into winning the team again. Ferrari's current problem is that both racers are about as fast (and equally fluctuating in form). The team is thus forced by their tactical decisions to directly harm one of the two racers and obviously no one is prepared for the consequences. Once Charles Leclerc has resolved the problem of knowing the racer, it will probably be much easier for everyone in the team.

What about a Ferrari racing car?

This, of course, is not bad, and because of a few racing crashes, it is not necessary to throw a rifle into the corn. The Ferrari's powertrain works great (at least as powerfully as Mercedes's), consumes little fuel and is reliable (despite a failure in Bahrain). The mechanical grip is excellent, the airflow also flows perfectly across the race car. So what's the problem? The only difference is that the differences between the Ferrari and Mercedes teams are much smaller than they seem when looking at the scale, that driving in the wind is a huge advantage this year, and this year's tires are particularly whimsical. The temperature is quickly jumping out of the operating range, and it was shocking to hear in the Baku race by radio that they did not know at Ferrari how the next set of tires would behave. Mercedes is still waiting for it, with their hands open with every great result, even though they do not know exactly how they came to victory.

Honda on a mission

As McLarn continues to plunge into each other in a flurry of failure, trying to turn his attention to the American Indy series, Honda has been panting at Red Bull. Red Bull has prepared well for Honda and the Japanese have made fantastic progress in powertrain performance over the last half year.

In fact, at the moment, more than the powertrain itself, is suffering from Adrian Newey's chassis, which also deals with the fly-like behavior of the tires (Pierre Gasly, who worked as a pure starter in the Red Bull race, had the most problems for fun only). The observant eye of the fanatic noticed that Red Bull with Max Verstapp was behind the wheel 20 seconds per race. For the eye 305 The distance traveled is far from bad, because the essential difference is whether you have a Honda or Renault powertrain. Renault is betting on itself, and it is public knowledge that they do not have the financial resources to compete with Ferrari or Mercedes. Honda, on the other hand, plays completely open cards and allows the team using their engines to do everything: from changing the engine code to onwards. The Honda engine is thus in season 2019 has already won two races (GP Austria and GP Germany), to which credit goes to Verstappen.

Williams Team Bottomed

The Williams racer is by far the worst racer this season. In fact, it is truly amazing how they managed to turn five mediocre riders into the top five in each race of the season in five years from the racer that rode in the forefront of racing, turning into one round loss this year. three to four seconds.

If Robert Kubica is the one who has nothing to lose at Wiiliams and has really gained a lot in the first four races as he is approaching the speed of George Russell from race to race, the latter has put his racing career at great risk. While Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly each race in the eyes of the public around the world, George Russell goes completely unnoticed and out of the media spotlight. At the first racing mistake, the media will add salt to the wounds of the young Briton. It is definitely a very difficult season ahead.

A few months ago, an interesting article appeared on the portal Motorsport-Total.com , where Nico Rosberg and Ralf Schumacher completely flooded Williams' leadership and hinted that the technical staff were competing against each other and not one for the other. Instead of engineers competing with rivals, they compete with coworkers, and Claire has created such a bad atmosphere within the team that anyone who can. One wonders, too, as Paddy Lowe, who successfully navigated the Mercedes team over the years and 2017, failed to reverse the trend of miscalculations, technical decisions and the team, along with him, wandered into the abyss of failure. Something very similar happened to McLarn. The wrong leadership, the advancement of the wrong people, the poor working climate and high pressures cause even the best professionals to fall and with them sink the entire team.